The Central Board of v. M/S.Coimbatore North Sarvodaya Sangh
Case brief
What is this about?
Delay and laches — Article 226 writ petitions by EPF Department against Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal orders (Section 7A, EPF Act) — delay of 6 to 9 years — government department cannot treat condonation of delay as an anticipated benefit; procedural red tape and panel counsel's ill health/death not sufficient cause where department filed other writ petitions meanwhile — writ of certiorari refused for stale claims — consistency with prior batch dismissals (W.P. Nos. 34447–34457 of 2017; W.P. Nos. 33079–33082 of 2017; W.P. No. 10027 of 2020 batch) — all writ petitions dismissed, no costs; W.M.Ps. closed. Precedents applied: Living Media India (2012) 3 SCC 563; P.S. Sadasivaswamy (1975) 1 SCC 152; Nandlal Jaiswal (1986) 4 SCC 566; Karnataka Power Corporation (2006) 4 SCC 322; Shiv Dass (2007) 9 SCC 274.
What did the court decide?
The petitioner's explanation for the 6-to-9-year delay — that the panel counsel was unwell and failed to file the writ petitions — is untenable, particularly because during the same period the Department continued to file several other writ petitions challenging the Tribunal's orders.